The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-20
THE DOLL AND ITS HISTORY.
All the Girls Since Moses Time Have
Played with Dolls.
From the Philadelphia Times.

terra Gotta, of ivory, and of rags have
been found whose limbs were made NOV
able for the delight of children. II is quite
probable that Pharaob's daughter threw
aside mimic child for the real baby which
she discovered in the famous bull-rush
basket In the tombs of Etruria-by the
way, where was Etruria !-similar toys
have been discovered; they were spread in
the East, and in China, as well as in India,
movable figures were made to act from time
| immemorial by hand and on strings, or as
| shadows behind a curtain. The ancient
| Greeks were experts in the manufacture Of
puppets including wax dolls, and several of
their poets allude to offerings of dolls to
Artemis and Aphrodite made by maidens
! before their marriage.
Pictures of two or three of these crude et-
forts at doll-making are given. They show
that little girls have always had the same
| girl-nature they now have, and that older
| people have always tried to please and
satisfy it in the same way.
The puppets, originally intended to graft
| fly children, ended III being a diversion for
adults, and puppet shows attracted a due
| amount of attention in the middle ages, ar
irving at such perfection in the sixteenth
century that their performances rivaled in
| attraction those of living actors. Puppet
shows became exceedingly popular in
| England i'll the early part of the last cen
| tuIy, but none more so than those conducted
| by Robert Powell, whose performances
were not restricted to London, but were
| given in the season at Bath, Oxford and
other places. In London Powels puppet
| show was set up under the piazza at Covent
| Garden. The latter is very ancient mar
| ket, but is far more famous from the opera
| house that is over the market, where the
finest of operas are given during the fashion
| able season.
Powel's stage was furnished with a set
scene, wings and sky-borders, and the per-
formances took place bylamplight When
the curtain rose Powell, wand in hand, took
his place, like the chorus of Greek play,
to illustrate the performance. Steele hui
morously announced one of these perform
ances by saying that Powell would crafty
the town with the performance of his drama
on the story of the "Chaste Susannah,"
(which would be graced by the addition of
two new elders" and Thomas Burnett, son of
the famous Bishop, in his dedication of
severe satire on the ministry of Robert Har-
lev. Earl of Oxford alludes to the great
popularity of Powel'S show. Whether or not
any dolls were brought over by the Puri-
taDs, who landed at Plymouth Rock, we do
not know. There are said to have been some
brought over in the Mayfiower, and posi-
bly, the claim is true, for you know the good
ship sailed from Dutch port, and Dutch
dolls the world affords. Still there is to be
taken into account the prim notions of the
Puritans. They had no time for play of
any sort, and they were such practical and
work-a-day people that it is doubtful if they
ever allowed their children to play with
dolls.
However this may be, it is certain that
generations succeeding the Puritans in this
country have not followed in their foot
steps, Millions of dolls are brought across
the country every year to American chill
dren, not to mention the millions that are
manufactured here.
There was a time when there were no
fashion journals, just as there was time
when there were no newspapers or maya
zines of any sort. The French people then,
as now, originated most of the ladies' fash
ions for all the world, and, as they had no
way of making pictures of their new styles,
or papers to describe them in, they made I'D
dolls of the latest French fashions and sent
them all over the world. These pOupees, as
the French called them, were thought of so
much Importance in England that they
We're allowed to be imported without him
drance, even in time of war. These dolls
not only showed the cut of the costumes,
but also reproduced faithfully the materials
and trimmings. Some of them were
brought into Pennsylvania and Virginia in
| early times, and set the fashions for our
great-grandmothers' styles in dress. Now
| fashions are not only pictured in the news
papers and magazines without number. but
| descriptions of them are deemed of sllffi-
| Gent importance to send by teiegra ph
| through the cable that lies under the ocean.
The French poupee still maintains its SUI
! periority in the doll world. Not even the
most fashionable American emporium can
| display dolls of home manufacture equaling
in pinkness of complexion, in wealth of
| lace, founces and frilleries, the dolls exhib-
| tied in Paris In the manufacture of small
| porcelain dolls, arrayed as brides, babies,
| shepherdesses, beadles and gendarmes, the
| French are also wonderfully skillful. The
more expensive dolls, arrayed in The latest
| fashions, come, in many instances from
| Paris, but there are professional and anna
| teur doll dressers enough in England who
can successfully compete with the French.
| Most of the best dolls in this country how
ever do not come from England, for we
hardly look to the English for our styles,
but from France and Germany.
The latter country is famous for the manu-
| facture of toys and dolls and the small town
of Sonneberg, in the Thuringian forests,
alone produces articles for the amusement
of children to the value of 100000 yearly,
and enough to fill the toy shops of every
quarter of the globe The different process
in the manufacture of wax dolls can there be
seen from beginning to end. German ladies'
are also expert doll dresSers, and there is a
\ yearly Christmas exhibition of dolls at
| Berlin A great deal is made of this Berlin
doll exhibition, and society turns out in
| large numbers to patronize it.
There are whole towns III Germany that
| do little else but make dolls for American
| children. They are mostly simple country
| felix's. They get small pay for making even
an excellent doll, but it must be remembered
| that their wants are few. German people
do not stir about as much as Ameri ans,
and it is the travelling and the dresses to
| travel in and appear in 'stylen before the
world that COSTS English children buy al
most 81 200, 900 worth of dolls from French
and German doll-makers, while the Ameri-
can children, not quite all in dolls, however,
buy double that many dollars worth every
year. American money paid out for dolls
makes many happy homes among the poor
people of France and Germany at Christmas
time.
Joseph Levy, Maine hunter, was pad
ding along the Big Musquash the other
day in his canoe when he saw bear. Levy
had nothing but duck shot in MS gun, buC
getting as close to the bear as possible, he
piazed away, knoc uug uIiu over Then he
landed, and struck the bear with his ak,
| breaking his back; but at the same tune ne
| fell directly over the bears head. The ami
al NlAad tho bttntaris foot aud hafora